Elevator Journey
by miss-stupid-sunshine
Summary: Rubbish name, I know. In which Tony and Steve work things out, while going up 50 floors. It may seem a bit unplanned, because I didn't originally think of the elevator thing, and I edited it on a whim. Hope you like it.


Tony Stark is a complicated man. Steve knew this from the beginning. From the very first night, where they sat and talked for endless hours, about their own tragic experiences. But that's where Steve found comfort, in the fact that he wasn't the only complicated person out there. That he wasn't alone in the world of terrors he'd face, then and now. Most importantly, he was comforted by the fact that Tony was comforted by him.

Steve knew what it felt like to be alone, to not being able confide the way you feel to anybody, for fear of being known as weak. Being Captain America people always expect Steve to stay strong, to know what to do, but sometimes that pressure would be too much. Sometimes he wanted to back to being Steve Rogers, the scrawny artist that barely scraped a living. Then he scraped that idea, thinking of how his life was changed, all the people he'd met, places he'd been.

But for Tony, he'd had nothing before this, this being his life. He was always Tony Stark, living in his father's shadow, trying desperately to be different from the monster he'd known growing up. He'd changed his whole company and career, to do what he thought was right, because despite the tough exterior, he could never do anything other than what was right in his view. Tony Stark is actually a very caring and kind man, but somehow, through his years of anguish, alcohol and altogether hard times, he's built a shield of his fake cocky and arrogant style. Only two people ever saw through that shield.

The first was Pepper. When she turned up as his new assistant, Tony was at an all time low. Drinking all the time, bringing home a new girl every night, and just doing whatever the hell he wanted really. But unlike his old assistant, Pepper worked full time, always doing something. And as she was there all the time, she saw him when the facade was down. When he was sad, and alone.

Eventually, Pepper wove her way to Tony's heart. She was always there for him, when the business jerks were being, well, jerks, when he'd drank too much again and all he really wanted was a cup of coffee and a day of sleep, or even on those occasional days when Howard wormed his way into Tony's mind and haunted his dreams. There were days when Tony honestly didn't know what would happen if Pepper wasn't around. They had tried being romantically involved, but decided the were better of friends, although he still loved Pepper, just not that way.

The second person, however, was Steve. From the day when Tony sacraficed himself to take the bomb into space, Steve had seen Tony differently. He wasn't the hard and cold man that everyone (including himself) made him out to be. And he obviously cared enough to sacraficed himself others. That's what made a true hero to Steve. He wasn't just a man in a tin can, he was so much more than that. He was a good man, a good person. Steve had been told once that he was a good man, and had vowed to stay that way. But it appeared to Steve that Tony needed no vow, he was just a good man.

A few nights after they had stayed up sharing their stories, Steve bumped into Tony. For some reason, Tony had decided to put the gym and training rooms, along with the private science labs, all on the bottom floors. So now, when they needed to go to a meeting they had an odd 40 or 50 floors to ride together.

"Hold the door!" Tony shouted, running down the hallway, waving frantically. Steve put his foot out hesitantly, and stopped the sliding panels from meeting. Tony casually walked into the elevator and leaned against the wall. He seemed calm, though he was slightly out of breath. "Do you have any idea what Fury wants?" Tony asked, sounding irritable. He'd probably been forced out of his lab for this, it seemed like spent days in there.

"No." Steve replied coolly. "Take it you were working on something?" He turned his head to look at Tony. Tony looked away as Steve looked to him, that made Steve feel like Tony had just been staring at him.

"Yeah nothing important though." Tony shrugged. The genius bit his lip, like he was toying with the idea of saying something. He obviously decided to go ahead because he said, "So, you know the other night, when we talked?"

Steve's eyes widened. They hadn't spoken about that night since it happened. It's not like anything had happened, but it was when Steve realised he actually wanted something to happen. "Uh, yeah?" He winced at how he sound, like he was waiting or expecting something to happen.

"Actually," Tony stopped, shaking his hands, smirking to himself. "It doesn't matter." Tony looked slightly disappointed in himself, but firm, like he was set on something.

What? Steve thought to himself. He was gonna bring it up, then not tell him what he was gonna say? That was really annoying. "No, Stark, say it." He said it rougher than he intended.

"So I've gone back to Stark now? That's a change of tone." Tony grumbled to himself. Was he trying to distract Steve, or was he just being bitter. If he was just brooding, then what about?

"Don't try and change the subject Tony, what were you going to say?" Steve turned to face Tony, who seriously looked like a sulking teenager now, propped up against the side of the elevator. 15 more floors to go.

"Fine. We talked all night, and it was great and I felt like we had, I don't know, bonded or whatever, but obviously not because now we've gone back to ignoring each other." Tony said dramatically, waving his hands about. 10 floors.

"Well I don't know why, because I would of talked to you. But you just stay down in your labs all day!" Steve wasn't really sure if they were arguing or not, you could never tell with Tony. 6 floors.

Tony paused for a second. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Steve, when I told you all that stuff, I felt like certain walls fall down. I know you're not stupid, and I know you know I don't tell anyone those sort of things. But that's the thing Steve. You're not just anybody. You're a great friend and a brilliant team mate. But, right now, I want you to ... I want you to be more than those things." He spoke quickly and gestured wildly with his hands. 4 floors.

Steve's mouth was slightly a gap. That was not what he was expecting, and now they only had 3 floors.

"Don't feel the same? I get it, don't worry." Tony's voice sounded like he was trying to hide what he was really feeling. 2 floors.

Acting simply on impulse, Steve reached to Tony. He pulled him closer until he was just a few inches away, and quickly pressed his lips to Tony's. He pulled away just as the elevator doors opened, revealing the rest of the Avengers, sitting round the meeting table.

"What happened to Rogers?" Clint asked, suspiciously. "He's bright pink."

Tony and Steve sat down in silence, but spent the rest of the meeting giving each other knowing looks. And the smile never once left either of their faces.


End file.
